Is there Gluten in Whiskey? Sept trip: 9 days, 3 boys, 1 urgent care visit NEWx2 11/7

[fromscratchmom]

... The chef showed up very quickly and walked us around. Most of the stuff was already gluten-free...I'd say at least 70% of it. The chef would just point to each dish and say either “this is good,” or “this is not good.” There was meat, and potatoes, and fruit for me, so I was all good...

Ari was not happy. Not at all. He was tired of chicken. He didn't like the chicken they had in the adult buffet, which had some kind of spices on it. He grudgingly agreed to have some of the roast, but he wasn't happy with it, either. He mostly wound up eating mashed potatoes and fruit, I think. He had his (angry) eye on the pasta with red sauce and the macaroni and cheese in the kids' section.

70% sounds amazing to me. I might have to start thinking of Boma as a must for us for our next trip! Thanks!

I'm so surprised that they didn't just let Ari have the kids foods. Seems as if that would have been easy peasy and no problem for their bottom line. I'm so sorry... I'm sure dealing with that really was a black cloud over your dining experience. A think all the mom's will understand for sure.

About the "Architecture" book... sadly, ours was destroyed when we had a bit of flooding in our big downstairs room (broken sump pump). If I came across it again, I'd probably buy a copy and save it for my grandkids too!
We actually have been boxing up a lot of books lately that my kids are too old for and putting them aside. I really ought to sell them all most likely. But I can't see getting such a fraction of the money out of it and then not having books to pass down when mine start having their own families.... urg... if I had the room for the storage... such hard decisions.

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 22: Tuesday, 9/20: Hollywood Studios

This was our only Hollywood Studios day, and we were determined to make the most of it. We got off to an excellent start, arriving at HS around 8:25. We were second in line at one of the turnstiles!

This is what it looked like when we got there...

...and this is what it looked like behind us a few minutes later.

They let us all through at maybe 8:45, and we were, again, second ones back from the rope. This had never happened to us before! We were going to have a great view of the opening ceremony! Usually the kids can't see a thing, and they just keep asking us what's happening.

I could stick my camera right in between the people in front of us and take this!

Then they dropped the rope and let us in. Wha?! Where is that big truck that comes out and they do that little show and all that? We're ready for it; we have a great view!

Hello Cast Members! What's up? Looks like you forgot your fun director's truck thing!

We'd been a little surprised not to have run across an opening ceremony at Animal Kingdom the day before, but we figured we'd just barely missed it. But, no. Apparently they've just done away with such things, except at the Magic Kingdom. Oh well.

Apparently this is the new opening ceremony at Hollywood Studios. Minnie comes out, stands waaaaayyyy down the street, waves, and goes away. Then they drop the rope.

Our plan was that Dave would head over for Toy Story fastpasses and then meet the kids and me at Rock n' Roller Coaster. We were situated sort of right in the middle of the rope, so it was a little harrowing for me and the kids to get over to the right without getting trampled by the Toy Story mob. But we did it!

A rare glimpse of the Toy Story stampede from off to the side.

No rush, so we stopped for pictures:

A lizard!

At this point, Gus had already decided that Rock n' Roller Coaster was probably going to be his new favorite ride, so he was pretty excited

Dave turned up eventually, and it was time to see if we could take our first ever whole family together ride on Rock n' Roller Coaster:

He was on! And very excited. I think last year was Milo's first year to try Rock n' Roller Coaster, and he'd gotten scared at the last second and we'd had to leave. After that, he worked up his courage, tried again, and loved it...but I was still a little worried that Gus was going to freak out before we got on the ride. Milo had been 2 years older than Gus when he rode the first time. And I think Ari was seven his first time, too, because the ride was closed the year he was six (i.e. the first year he was tall enough).

Anyway, Gus was a little nervous when we got to the front of the line....but then he was fine! He loved it! It immediately became his new favorite ride—sorry Everest!

Now over to Tower of Terror.

We all got in the line together, but Milo decided sometime around the preshow room that he didn't want to ride after all, so Dave took him out. Milo now, a few weeks later: “I regret not riding on Tower of Terror.” Yes, exactly like that he says it.

Tower of Terror is Ari's favorite ride, and probably mine, too, but everyone else can pretty much take it or leave it. So after our first ride, Ari wanted to go again, but no one else did. Since Dave hadn't ridden yet, he took Ari, and I took the other two back on Rock n' Roller Coaster.

Before the trip, I kept reading stuff that seemed to indicated that lines were never really too bad over at Star Tours and that we didn't need to rush over there first thing in the morning or anything. But still I was skeptical. I mean, it's brand new! But it was all true. We rode Star Tours a whole mess of times throughout the day, never used a fastpass, and never waited more than five minutes or so. How do the lines stay so long at Toy Story all day? Do most people just keep getting in line for it over and over? Because it didn't seem like there was anyone anywhere else in the park.

The Jedi Training Academy was going on when we got over to Star Tours:

Yep, no interest here from our kids whatsoever. And, honestly, I don't think it's that fun to watch someone else's kid fight Darth Vader, either. So, since my own kids won't do it....on to the ride!

Judging from the terrible lighting in all of my pictures, it was really bright that day.

We all really enjoyed it! It was closed last year for the big redo, of course. Which means I doubt Gus remembers it at all (he rode the one in Disneyland when he was three). That was a cool thing about this trip...there were quite a few things that Gus either had never done before or hadn't done since he very young, so a lot of it seemed new to him even though he's been to WDW so many times. And, of course, THIS Star Tours was new to all of us. We approve of the changes. More on it later, because we rode it a hundred times, it seems like. Maybe just four.

I think there was a threat involved in this picture. Something like, "I'm not going to let you move until you smile." Looks like only Ari believed me.

Next over to the Muppets. We hadn't seen this since our first trip, I believe, and Ari and Milo were both wearing Muppets shirts today, so it seemed like high time for another visit. I enjoyed it this time more than that first time. This may have a lot to do with not having a nine month old to keep entertained this time.

I made Ari stand by this poster, because he was wearing a Kermit shirt.

And now it was eleven, and we wanted to make sure to eat lunch as early as we could because we had a Fantasmic package reservation at Mama Melrose at 3:40. So on to Pizza Planet!

 

[kokotg]

70% sounds amazing to me. I might have to start thinking of Boma as a must for us for our next trip! Thanks!

I'm so surprised that they didn't just let Ari have the kids foods. Seems as if that would have been easy peasy and no problem for their bottom line. I'm so sorry... I'm sure dealing with that really was a black cloud over your dining experience. A think all the mom's will understand for sure.

Oh--it wasn't that they wouldn't let Ari have the kids' stuff, it was that he wanted the gluteny pasta instead of the chicken drumsticks and mashed potatoes. We actually all ate mashed potatoes from the kids' section . I probably should have asked to see if they had any rice pasta that they could make up for him, but I didn't realize that pasta was SO important to him.

 

[BerrysGirl]

I'm always curious about zebra domes but your verdict kinda confirms how I think I'll feel about them... too sweet. I really don't like truffles for that very reason and zebra domes look like... well... truffles. Have you ever tried the normal zebra domes with gluten?

I love Tower of Terror too! It doesn't give me a headache the way Rockin Roller Coaster or Expedition Everest can. DBF didn't want to ride it this trip though... no worries, I have every intention of dragging him on in December

 

[kokotg]

I'm always curious about zebra domes but your verdict kinda confirms how I think I'll feel about them... too sweet. I really don't like truffles for that very reason and zebra domes look like... well... truffles. Have you ever tried the normal zebra domes with gluten?

I love Tower of Terror too! It doesn't give me a headache the way Rockin Roller Coaster or Expedition Everest can. DBF didn't want to ride it this trip though... no worries, I have every intention of dragging him on in December

I tried a regular zebra dome last year and felt pretty much the same way, if I remember right. My tastes have shifted more toward dark chocolatey, less sweet stuff since last year....but I've always kind of felt like if a dessert doesn't have a lot of chocolate in it it's not worth it . The gluten-free ones aren't much different from the regular ones I don't think...I think only the bottom is different? Not sure about that, though.

 

[okw19]

I am caught up on updates! AK looked like fun, and that pin trading stroller is awesome!! Boma has never really appealed to me, and I'm glad to finally hear an honest review on Zebra domes!!
Your MGM morning sounds like a great one. I'm almost nervous to ride the new Star Tours. I loved the old one so much, I'm afraid I won't like it as well as the original.

 

[kokotg]

I am caught up on updates! AK looked like fun, and that pin trading stroller is awesome!! Boma has never really appealed to me, and I'm glad to finally hear an honest review on Zebra domes!!
Your MGM morning sounds like a great one. I'm almost nervous to ride the new Star Tours. I loved the old one so much, I'm afraid I won't like it as well as the original.

We all really prefer the new Star Tours, but, then, I don't think any of us had much of an attachment to the old one...so who knows?

I'm the only one in my family who doesn't give the zebra domes a glowing review...the kids think I'm crazy for not liking them

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 23: Pizza Planet

I feel like I'm always writing another dining review. It's like every few hours we had to eat again or something! Just wait until next year if I follow through with this crazy deluxe dining idea!

But anyway...Pizza Planet! We had a Fantasmic dinner package reservation at Mama Melrose at 3:40 (it was officially a lunch reservation, though we were going to treat it as dinner, so we kept referring to it as “second lunch”), so we go to Pizza Planet pretty much as soon as they opened at 11.

I had been thinking that today was going to be a pretty easy food day as far as Ari's moods, having looked over all the menus. I knew that Pizza Planet had Amy's pizza; we'd tried it at home, and Ari liked it just fine. I'd also heard that Pizza Planet has an Ener-G pizza crust available. Being such a big fan of the Ener-G rolls, Ari was eager to check out their pizza crusts. Dave got in line to start the allergy ordering process, and the kids and I went upstairs and grabbed a table. And Ari got grumpy again.

I think a lot of the problem with Ari's moods re: the gluten stuff is that he's usually already hungry when we start talking about food. So more likely to get grumpy. Enter grumpiness death spiral.

Dave came back after awhile to report that he'd ordered the food. I asked if he'd gotten the Ener-G crust pizza for Ari, and he said that he'd asked about it, but they'd told him it was much smaller than the Amy's crust, so he'd gotten all Amy's crusts. Oops, wrong answer. Ari REALLY wanted the Ener-G crust, and he didn't care how small it was. Dave went back down to see if it was too late to change it, and came back to report all was good: Ener-G crust was on the way!

Dave took Milo and Gus downstairs to play a couple of video games while we waited, but Ari was too grumpy to go. According to my notes, we waited about 20 minutes on our food here, so a little quicker than at most of our quick service meals.

Look how excited he is about his pizza!

Again: WAY too much food. The Energ-G crust was indeed a lot smaller, but that meant it was actually about the right size for one person. For everyone else, we had big old pizzas, plus salads with the adult meals, and desserts. I've read in some reviews that they weren't given salads with their gluten-free pizzas, but we were.

The Amy's pizzas look pretty good, but, well...they're not. They're okay. Pizza is one thing that's really hard to do well without gluten. Pizza's supposed to be chewy, and gluten is what makes baked stuff chewy. Best gluten-free pizza I've had, without a doubt, is Against the Grain. It has a tapioca starch based crust, with lots of eggs and cheese baked into it. But it's crazy expensive, so I'm not holding my breath that they'll start offering it at Disney anytime soon. So the flavor is fine on Amy's, but the texture is definitely off. At least Disney's regular pizza isn't very good, either, so you don't feel like you're missing out on TOO much.

Ari tried both and said he preferred his Ener-G crust, but I took a bite of it and didn't like it. I don't think it was cooked enough, though...it was just kind of doughy and white and bland. Needed eggs and cheese in the crust .

Milo and Gus didn't really complain about their pizza, but they didn't eat that much of it, either. We threw away a LOT of pizza .

Verdict: we probably won't do Pizza Planet again, at least not if we're not eating gluten still next year. We've never done it before, either, though, so it doesn't really feel like a great loss.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Wow at how busy it got at DHS in a matter of minutes!

I never knew DHS had a rope drop but oh no on it being changed when one did use to take place.

Yay on getting on the two thrill rides so early! I have to say I am with the ToT crowd!

A shame that the pizzas didn't taste great but at least you had Mama Melrose coming up. Lol we also felt like we were always eating at Disney World but with all the walking it is needed

 

[kokotg]

Lol we also felt like we were always eating at Disney World but with all the walking it is needed

Right? I feel like I eat so much there, and I'm always surprised I haven't gained 10 pounds when I come home. But between the walking and the sweating, I guess it all gets burned off

 

[teekathepony]

Hi! I'm joining in!

Before I go any further... oh my gosh, what was your room number, if you don't mind my asking? Was it by any chance 7251? That was where they put us starting the 24th and it was everything you described with exactly the same view! How ironic would that be.

Great TR so far! (Well, except for poor Ari's stomach, glad that cleared up!)

 

[kokotg]

Hi! I'm joining in!

Before I go any further... oh my gosh, what was your room number, if you don't mind my asking? Was it by any chance 7251? That was where they put us starting the 24th and it was everything you described with exactly the same view! How ironic would that be.

Great TR so far! (Well, except for poor Ari's stomach, glad that cleared up!)

We were in 7246 and 7247...very close! That would have been so funny if we'd had the same room!

 

[fireworks fan]

Hello! I just found your trip report and had to read it because of the title I have celiac and love reading about gluten free at Disney. Its my favorite place to eat!

Also wanted to say that I totally agree about the gluten free pizza at pizza planet-no good and way too long a wait for it. I use Annalise Roberts pizza crust recipe at home and my family will eat it.


And Babycakes is awesome! I wish they had the cinnamon rolls when I was there in February. I just had the cupcakes and doughnuts.

Can't wait to read the rest of the report. Thanks for sharing

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 24: Tuesday, 9/20: More Hollywood Studios

With first lunch behind us, we turned our attention to....Toy Story Midway Mania! The best ride in the whole universe, at least if you judge it by the lines. I do like Toy Story a lot, but not quite enough to go to the trouble of riding it more than once in a day. So we generally get our fastpasses in the morning and then enjoy our one ride later in the day.

Gus and Milo both decided to wear two pairs of glasses

I'm always amazed when people post their scores in TRs, at how high they are. Mine is not so high. But here it is. Along with Ari's. Mine is higher. But, Ari points out, his accuracy is better.

We made a Toy Story penny after riding

On the way over, we saw that Phineas and Ferb were out:

Now, Gus had bought an autograph book way back on Saturday, but it was still just sitting in our backpack, unused. Gus kept saying he was saving it for our character meals. I was secretly glad he didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting in lines for characters, but I still felt an obligation to point out available opportunities to do so. When I asked if he wanted to get autographs from Phineas and Ferb (he is a big fan of the show), he was uninterested. “I only want autographs from more important characters,” he explained, “the ones who have films, not just episodes.” Alrighty then.

I've been in One Man's Dream only one time before, our second trip when the kids were 6, 4, and not yet 2. These were not the best ages for One Man's Dream. So we kind of ran through it quickly while trying to keep small children from tearing it to the ground.

I was really looking forward to trying it again with older kids (I think it was closed last year? Is that right? Wow—a lot of stuff was closed last year!)

Success! Kids did great! I mean, I could have spent more time there than we did and still would like to do that sometime when they're older still, but they were very patient and spent a good bit of time looking at the exhibits, and they didn't break ANYTHING!

Look at Ari, reading about Disney stuff. So grown up!

Milo was going to be Oswald for the Halloween party, so we took this picture.

And Gus with Mickey, for the same reason

Creepy!

They are Epic Mickey fans.

Really, we couldn't have spent longer even if the kids' attention spans had held out, because we needed to get across the park for the Lights, Motor, Action show! We had to leave before the movie at the end of One Man's Dream, in fact.

You have to walk a really long way to get to the seats for Lights, Motor, Action. We'd never seen this before. Last year we saw the Indiana Jones show for the first time, and....we liked that a lot better. At least I did. Let me take a poll of the kids. Kids, did you like the stunt show?

Gus: yeah
Ari: no
Milo: it was okay

There you have it. What about Dave? I have no idea. Let me ask. Hey Dave, did you like the stunt show? He says, “yes!” enthusiastically. But adds that he had a hard time understanding what the people were saying, which the kids all immediately agree with.

As for me...I was sort of bored out of my mind. I couldn't understand the incredibly rapid explanations about what was going on, either, but I didn't really care, because there are few things I'm less interested in than how they film car chase scenes in movies. One of those few things might be the actual car chase scenes in movies. Not my thing. At all. Also, it was hot. I took pictures to entertain myself:

Don't worry; he's doing this on purpose. He's fine.

That guy's fine, too. He's wearing, like, fire clothes or something.

A bunch of cars doing stunt things.

Now back to Star Tours:

This time Dave was the spy in our group! (for those who haven't ridden it yet, part of the story involves one person in your transport being a rebel spy). So they flash a fuzzy picture of the spy pretty quickly near the beginning, and I thought it was Dave, but I wasn't positive. Until the ride was over and it seemed the pretty much everyone else who'd been in there recognized Dave. A guy in front of me turned around and said something like, “I bet you didn't know you were married to a spy!” And then, in the gift shop, someone else saw him and said, “Hey—you're the spy! I'm going to turn you in!” Dave hadn't been sure whether it was him or not either until that happened. So, yeah, strangers can recognize Dave's face easier than I can or than he can himself!

They sell t-shirts that say something like, “I'm the rebel spy” in the shop. I don't regret not buying one of these for Dave, but I do regret not making him hold one up in front of him while I took a picture of it.

Oops! Hit my picture limit. More in a sec.

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 24 continued

When we got out of Star Tours, it was raining. There was a big mob of people standing right at the entrance to the shop, with a CM telling them to please not block the doorway. We decided we'd rather be out in the rain than jammed in with all those people, especially since Dave had been outed as the spy, so we headed on out into the wet.

We hadn't done the Great Movie Ride yet, and that was nice and long and inside, so went there:

I like the Great Movie Ride, but I'm a little tired of it. And how come we never get the cowboy? Does anyone ever get the cowboy? This time it inspired Ari to beg us to be allowed to watch Alien, though. I've never seen it, but Dave says it is not for ten year olds.

When we came out, it had stopped raining, and we noticed that everyone was lined up for the parade. I've always wanted to see the Pixar parade but never managed it before, so I wanted to stop and watch. Strangely, nothing makes my children grumpier than a parade. Well, they like nighttime parades well enough, but they absolutely never want to watch the afternoon ones. It was now pretty close to time for second lunch, though, and it made sense to watch the parade and then head over to Mama Melrose. Poor kids. Stuck with mean old parents who force them to watch parades:

"WHY is this happening to us?!

How can they not love it?! It's fun! It says right there.

A skeptical Gus tried watching the parade...

It's FUN! times three

Dave is convinced about the FUN!

I wish I could remember what on earth was going on here, but I can't.

Parade's over! We can smile again!

And, oh my goodness, it's time for us to eat AGAIN now. So next up: Mama Melrose.

 

[BerrysGirl]

There are so many parades in the afternoon that I did not know existed / never have had the opportunity to watch. That may be my mission in December when DBF is working. I didn't even know there was a Pixar parade at DHS!

That one, the MK one, and Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade I really just need to take the time to watch... I wonder why there isn't one at Epcot? I remember there use to be...

 

[shan23877]

Great updates! I am also not a fan of LMA or car chases- so I can totally relate I can't believe that you were mean enough to make those poor children watch a parade! That's horrible.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay! TSMM - loved this ride even though my scores were always rubbish!

Lol did having 2 pairs of glasses result in a better score?

I'm glad you all enjoyed One Man's Dream and have to agree about LMA.

The Pixar parade is so much fun - we loved it!

 

[Mombits]

I'm sorry the pizza was such a bust. I'm with Ari, I like my gluten. This summer I saw the gastroenterologist and he started making noise about a "gluten problem" and I just about bolted out of the room! I much prefer to stick my head in the sand and hope that the problem magically disappears! I hope you can get him so rice pasta at Mama Melrose!

My kids wouldn't watch the parade either. We stood there and waited for about 15 minutes and they both said they wanted to leave so we did. On the upside, that is a great time to do the character m&g because everyone is at the parade.

My ds sat and waited for an hour to do the Jedi training last time so I really hope he is willing to forego it this time. I think we'll all look forward to trying out the new and improved Star Tours. I hope the no line thing holds true for us too.

 

[kokotg]

Hello! I just found your trip report and had to read it because of the title I have celiac and love reading about gluten free at Disney. Its my favorite place to eat!

Also wanted to say that I totally agree about the gluten free pizza at pizza planet-no good and way too long a wait for it. I use Annalise Roberts pizza crust recipe at home and my family will eat it.

And Babycakes is awesome! I wish they had the cinnamon rolls when I was there in February. I just had the cupcakes and doughnuts.

Can't wait to read the rest of the report. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for reading!

I'll have to look into that pizza recipe and give it a try!

There are so many parades in the afternoon that I did not know existed / never have had the opportunity to watch. That may be my mission in December when DBF is working. I didn't even know there was a Pixar parade at DHS!

That one, the MK one, and Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade I really just need to take the time to watch... I wonder why there isn't one at Epcot? I remember there use to be...

We didn't have the best view, but I think we did see all of the Pixar parade, so at least I can cross one of the afternoon parades off my list! Hey--in a few years the kids will be old enough to go off on their own and ride stuff while I watch a parade...so at least I know I can see them eventually.

Great updates! I am also not a fan of LMA or car chases- so I can totally relate I can't believe that you were mean enough to make those poor children watch a parade! That's horrible.

Thanks!

I am pretty much the meanest mom in the whole world...I pride myself on it

Yay! TSMM - loved this ride even though my scores were always rubbish!

Lol did having 2 pairs of glasses result in a better score?

I'm glad you all enjoyed One Man's Dream and have to agree about LMA.

The Pixar parade is so much fun - we loved it!

I just asked Milo if the extra glasses gave him a better score and he said, after considering, "I didn't really notice them." So there you have it

I'm sorry the pizza was such a bust. I'm with Ari, I like my gluten. This summer I saw the gastroenterologist and he started making noise about a "gluten problem" and I just about bolted out of the room! I much prefer to stick my head in the sand and hope that the problem magically disappears! I hope you can get him so rice pasta at Mama Melrose!

My kids wouldn't watch the parade either. We stood there and waited for about 15 minutes and they both said they wanted to leave so we did. On the upside, that is a great time to do the character m&g because everyone is at the parade.

My ds sat and waited for an hour to do the Jedi training last time so I really hope he is willing to forego it this time. I think we'll all look forward to trying out the new and improved Star Tours. I hope the no line thing holds true for us too.

Ha--Gus just tested positive for a million environmental allergies, and I think I really should get him tested for food allergies...but I'm doing the sticking my head in the sand thing myself; I've got a pretty good handle on the gluten thing, but I'm terrified we'll have to cut out something like dairy on top of it....don't want to know!